In my recent dissection experience, I spent some time handling a human heart. To literally hold someone’s heart in your hands is a humbling and awe-inspiring experience. Even though its owner had passed and the life force had left, the heart retained a poignant and palpable vibration.
Your heart is your lifelong companion. The medical community would say that we can begin to detect a heartbeat around six weeks; some yogis would offer that this fundamental pulsation begins from the moment that conception produces a unique vibration. The feeling of a heartbeat touches us deeply: babies rest their heads against against it to be comforted and lovers place their hands on it to feel a soulful connection.
More than just a physical organ, many cultures honor the heart as the seat of the soul. In Sanskrit, hridaya is the “spiritual heart,” in which atman (the soul) is believed to reside. The word heart has become synonymous with courage (from the French word coeur, or heart), as well as “soul, spirit, will, desire; courage; mind, intellect,” (retrieved from https://www.etymonline.com/word/heart).
The heart is composed of special muscles cells called cardiac cells. Not only will a group of these cells sync up together to pulse rhythmically, but they are also indefatigable. To appreciate your heart’s special capacity for endurance, try opening and closing your first fist 60 times in a minute and see what happens.
During the lab last week, I learned another wonderful fact about this magical organ: the heart feeds itself first.
The Coronary Arteries
Your coronary arteries (named coronary for their “crown” like wreathing shape) wrap your heart like delicate garden vines. Both the left and right coronary (you have two) connect to the aorta. You may know the aorta: it’s the blood vessel that connects from your heart and spirals freshly oxygenated blood up to your brain and out through your body. What you may not truly grasp about the aorta (I certainly didn’t until I saw it) is that it is massive. As in, bigger than either your esophagus or trachea, sometimes as big as both combined (average about 2.7 cm wide).
As the newly oxygenated blood whooshes from heart out into the aorta, the coronary arteries divert some of this formidable gush back to the heart directly to provide it with oxygen.
By Blausen Medical Communications, Inc. – Donated via OTRS, see ticket for details, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26986337
The Heart’s Invitation
The heart feeds itself first.
The human body has many lessons for us. By observing what is true in the body, we can be reminded of natural principles that our intellectual minds may have forgotten or obscured.
For example, many of us have been taught to believe that our own needs must come last; that self-care is an act of selfishness. We compromise our own resources – whether it’s getting enough sleep, taking the time to eat well, or sacrificing our personal time – in a kind but misguided attempt to be a good person.
In the coronary arteries, we can see that Nature offers us a different lesson: nourish yourself first. Ensure that you give yourself the energy and resources that you need to thrive.
The heart shows us that self-care doesn’t adversely affect the rest of the system: the coronary arteries are small vessels that do not impede the abundance of blood from supplying the rest of the body. In other words, a small amount of self-care can be profoundly nourishing. Your hour-long yoga class or twenty minute walk provide benefits that far exceed the time they take.
The heart also teaches us that your act of self-care is essential to the well-being of your entire system (in this case, your system may include your family, your friends, and your community). Ultimately, the rest of the body depends on the heart’s health to live. The “self-serving” aspect of the heart is a loving act that ensures that the rest of system thrives.
As you consider your own self-care, remember the heart’s lesson in compassion: feed yourself first. Then share the fruits of your vibrancy.
